Nordonia Hills superintendent outlines $1.5 million in cuts, proposes nine staff reductions

Superintendent Casey told the Nordonia Hills City School District Board of Education on March 18 that administrators have identified roughly $1,500,000 in potential savings to address a challenging five‑year forecast and extend levy resources.

Casey said the recommended package splits savings into three buckets: $548,719 in immediate reductions to budget appropriations that the board would vote on that night, about $414,000 in adjustments to the 2024‑25 budget and roughly $585,000 from personnel changes achieved through attrition, unfilled positions and a limited reduction‑in‑force. "The dollar you save today is $2 tomorrow," Casey said, describing the decision to start with this year's budget rather than wait until next year.

Why it matters: the proposal aims to preserve what the superintendent called the district's "nonnegotiables," first among them safeguarding students' learning and outcomes, while creating a repeatable, adaptable annual review to identify future savings. Casey emphasized starting with non‑personnel expenditures—budgets, purchase services and contracts—before moving to personnel.

Details of the plan include an audit of the curriculum budget (the district's largest line) that yielded about $240,000 in immediate savings and an additional $107,000 proposed for next year, for a curriculum total of approximately $348,000 in savings. Administrators also identified smaller immediate reductions across central office and building lines (examples cited included professional development, travel and office supplies). Technology and equipment purchases were deferred where feasible.

On personnel, Casey told the board the plan would reduce nine staff positions overall, beginning with attrition and unfilled roles and including one recommended layoff of a family consumer science teacher whose current enrollment does not justify two positions: "I'm asking you, and I'll show you this, to lay off a teacher, provide a reduction in force of a family consumer science teacher," Casey said. He also said some student‑supervisor and paraprofessional positions would not be refilled when employees leave.

Board members praised the staff for the work but voiced concern about the human impact. One board member observed, "Every single number that gets slashed here, it's not just trimming fat we're talking about," and urged attention to staff workload and maintaining quality for students. Casey acknowledged the limits of cutting alone, saying, "You can't cut your way out of this," and arguing the district must also pursue revenue options alongside careful spending.

Next steps: the superintendent and finance staff recommended the board vote that night on the immediate $548,719 appropriation reductions; other budget adjustments will be folded into next year's budget process and discussed at upcoming regular meetings. The transcript ends before a recorded vote on the appropriation adjustments in the provided excerpt.

The district said the process was collaborative—department heads and principals reviewed line‑by‑line reductions—and that staffing decisions would be made with attention to class size and programs that affect graduation and safety (for example, replacing a retiring science teacher was specifically requested to avoid running unsafe, oversized lab classes).